TELEGRAM TO THE REVOLUTIONARY MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE REPUBLIC

Published:First published in 1965 inCollected Works, Fifth Ed., Vol. 50.

      Printed from the original.Source:Lenin
	  Collected Works,

      Progress Publishers,1975,

      Moscow,Volume 44,

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27. XII. 1918

RevolutionaryMilitary CouncilSerpukhov

Ifully agree with Trotsky’s telegram on
fraternisation.[1]Please urgently draft an instruction on fraternisation and
especially encourage it on the Northern Front.

LeninChairman, Council of People’s Commissars

[1]Inhis telegram to Lenin and to the Revolutionary Military
Council of the Republic dated December 20, 1918, Trotsky,
commenting on the apprehensions of Commander-in-Chief Vatsetis
regarding fraternisation, wrote of its significance, particularly on
the Northern Front, where there were American, British and French
troops. At the same time, in order to put a stop to enemy
agitation among Red Army men and to prevent the weakening of the
fighting efficiency of the Red Army units, the telegram proposed
that fraternisation should be carried out in an organised manner
under the surveillance and control of responsible functionaries,
primarily political commissars.